- Michelle Obama is excited to witness the 2012 Summer Olympics. The First Lady said, “I am beyond proud to be leading the U.S. delegation in the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympics games, and during my visit, in addition to cheering for team USA, I’m going to have a chance to meet with our Olympic athletes and the folks who work in our embassy in London as well…. Leading our national delegation and traveling to London is truly a dream come true.” The Olympics kick off this Friday on NBC. [Huffington Post]
- Mariah Carey is officially the highest paid judge in reality TV. The songbird will make a reported $18M for judging one year of American Idol. Previously, Jennifer Lopez made $12M a year for working with the show. [TMZ]
- Despite tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, The Dark Knight Rises still managed to earn big numbers at the box office this weekend. The crime fighting superhero flick earned a reported $160.9M. It now holds the record for the third best debut of all time. [EW]
- Eric Benet is coming under fire this morning for his controversial song, “Redbone Girl.” He’s fighting back critics calling out their response as a form of racism. “I did a song called ‘Chocolate Legs’ about my experience with a dark skin lady,” said Benet. “There was no anger or uproar of ‘How dare you.’ So ‘Redbone Girl’ is one song about one experience about a girl who happens to be light complected but there was quite an uproar.” Critics say the singer is promoting racists standards of beauty. [EURweb]
- Oprah’s Next Chapter India special finally aired on Discovery Channel India, but it didn’t receive a warm welcome from the nation. The media mogul is accused of being “snobbish” and “ignorant.” A critic for Firstpost.com described the two-part episode as “myopic, unaware, ignorant and gauche. This was Middle America at its best worst.” Most of the responses have been largely negative, stating that Oprah unfairly displayed a “superficial sob story” without showing a full view of the nation from top to bottom – covering all class systems. [Hollywood Reporter]